Caged in Darkness (4 page)

Ash always acknowledged Izzy, which just
encouraged her infatuation. She didn’t seem to understand that he
was kind to her mainly because she was my friend. My anti-social
behavior never sat well with Ash. He would go out of his way to
bring any sort of happiness to my life. He appreciated anyone else
who did this and so he was grateful to both Willow and Izzy.
Though, Willow didn’t seem to enjoy his attention quite as much as
Izzy did.

I eyed the boys as Griffin slammed his
locker door and turned his sandy brown haired head in our
direction. His blue eyes turned cold, when he took in Izzy and me.
Ash looked up to see as he walked to us. Griffin stopped a little
past us and waited impatiently as Ash leaned towards me to brush a
wavy strand of hair away from my face. I shook my head so that the
strand would return to its original state.

Ash smiled and said, “Maye wanted me to tell
you that she wouldn’t be home after school. She said she had some
things to take care of.”

Ash and I had a tentative relationship that
was built on his unfailing patience in the face of the wall I built
between me and the outside world. Ash’s problem was that he never
gave up and he had a soft spot for damaged goods. I was the poster
child for damaged, which meant that in our own way we had developed
a close bond. He constantly tried to bring me out into the light
and I persisted on remaining one with the shadows. However, there
were times when we compromised by meeting in the middle.

“I know. I overheard her on the phone last
week; something about a lawyer… Did she say why she was seeing
one?”

Ash grunted, “No, but I wouldn’t worry.
She’s probably making a will or something.” He stared me in the eye
for a moment. “Do you want me to go straight home after school so
you’re not alone?”

Ash knew that when I was alone in the house
I tended to have panic attacks. He learned that the hard way when
he came home with Maye from seeing a movie, to find me curled in
fetal position in the kitchen pantry. When they tried to comfort
me, I slashed at them with my nails, while letting forth a growl.
My mind simply wouldn’t process who they were, and as cornered
animals do… I viewed them as a threat. Ash managed to lure me out
of my internal rage by singing to me. When my mind began to process
who I had been slashing at, I broke down into tears. They made a
point not to leave me home alone again.

“Mmmm… nope.” I avoided his eyes, as I
shoved my books into the tote at my feet. “I’m not going to be home
anyway. I promised Izzy we could go dress shopping today.” I rolled
my eyes at Izzy.

“Well, if I am going to be seen with you two
wallflowers, you can’t look like you just rolled out of bed. It’s
either wear my clothes or buy something new. Since you and Willow
insist my wardrobe is too garish for your complexions; that leaves
shopping…” Izzy shrugged with a smile and walked off towards her
first period class.

Ash blocked my way when I tried to follow.
“You’re going shopping?” He laughed, “To a mall… to buy real
clothes?” Amusement and disbelief ran rampant in his voice.

I shoved Ash gently against the locker.
“Yes, to the mall for
real
clothes. What kind of clothes did
you think I was going to buy?” I crossed my arms and gave him my,
be careful what you say or you’ll regret it
stare.

Griffin came to Ash’s rescue by shouting
that they needed to get to class or they would be late. Ash glanced
at me, shrugged and said “Guess I can’t answer that question. Talk
to you tonight, S.”

I looked in the direction that Izzy had gone
and slowly ambled forward. This was going to be a long day. Not
only did I have to worry about a calculus test and the inevitable
bruising from self defense class, but I had to worry about shopping
too.

Ash

When Savannah turned, her hair grazed my
face and brought the fresh scent of strawberries. I thought it was
ironic that she was firm in her decision to be anti-feminine,
considering that she added small accents, which were very much
feminine. Savannah had been that way since the first day I met her.
She fought a war within herself; always trying to be someone she
wasn’t. She was beautiful, but she hid it behind baggy clothes. She
was smart, but she never opened her mouth to show it. She was
insecure and yet she deliberately took the lead, as if daring her
personality to deny her anything.

At first, I was jealous when Savannah came
to live with us. I had been uncomfortable with the idea of sharing
Maye since she was the only family I had left. When I thought of
the look in Savannah’s eyes the night she showed up on our lawn;
the vacant cavern of emotion behind her gaze, I wanted to rescue
her.

I was a child when Savannah came to live
with us and didn’t realize that she couldn’t be fixed. She wasn’t a
disease or a broken computer; she was a girl who had endured the
nine circles of hell and survived. I admired her, but more than
that I loved her. I had to share Maye, but I gained so much
more.

I couldn’t help but feel protective of
Savannah; it was in my nature. I was an Emmons; it was in our blood
to protect our loved ones, just as it was in our nature to descend
into a poisonous rage when those loved ones are threatened. The
thought of the trials Savannah endured, was enough to make me
lengthen my fangs and hiss.

I walked to English, and went to each of my
classes, but they were more of a formality at this point. Other
than first period English and fourth period gym, I had enough
credits to graduate. Rather than taking a course load of unneeded
electives, I choose to go home directly after lunch.

As a senior, I sat in the first cafeteria.
My small band of friends took up the table in the middle of the
room, which meant that we were the object of many stares. Unlike my
friends, I was uncomfortable with people watching me. I felt like a
stage puppet for the student population. Griffin enjoyed performing
for everyone. I didn’t.

My table was filled mostly with girls and a
handful of guys. I sat on the far end of it, which over looked the
entrance to the cafeteria. Griffin sat directly across from me and
Isis next to him. The rest weren’t witches, and remained unaware of
what we were.

Isis was a member of the coven, but I found
her annoyingly flirtatious. Her cruelty towards Savannah and her
friends made me dislike her. Many considered Isis beautiful, but
her beauty lay in her appearance only. Her skin was the shade of
bronzed coffee. Her hair hung straight down her back to graze her
thighs, and her eyes were like red garnets. She wore her makeup the
way ancient Egyptians had, with the color outlining her eyes to
make them seem catlike. She had an amazing body; thin with long
legs and big breasts. I knew that was why Griffin kept her around.
They hooked up on a regular basis, but neither really wanted the
other for anything more than sex.

Isis was rarely found without her two best
friends, Jen and Stacey. They were twins from the coven, but their
parents had taken them out of the country to visit relatives in
Ireland for a few weeks. Isis was alone and she did not look happy
about it. She was on a war path and her personality depicted
it.

I winced, thinking that Isis would probably
go out of her way to cause problems for Savannah until her friends
were back to distract her. She usually attacked Savannah when she
was in a bad mood.

“Look who just walked in.” Isis craned her
neck, as she pointed out Savannah entering the cafeteria. “It’s
such a shame that she has the body of a child. She could almost be
pretty. Maybe I should suggest a plastic surgeon to fix her problem
areas.” Her eyes sparkled with wicked intent. “I mean, she is
almost sixteen. It’s not normal to be so flat chested. Maybe, she
is really a boy?” Isis looked me in the eye, daring me to defend
Savannah. I ignored her, and ate my fries.

“I think I’ll offer her that advice.” Isis
turned to Griffin. He nodded, and smiled.

“Go ahead. It’s about time someone told
her.” He nodded in Savannah’s direction.

Isis pulled herself out of her seat and
began to walk towards Savannah with a gleeful determination to her
step. I spun out of my seat, walked briskly to her and grabbed her
arm in a harsh grip.

“Lay off it. You’re not going to say
anything to her, understood?” I ground the words through clenched
teeth, and felt my eyes glow in warning. I was descended from the
Emmons line, which was known for their tempers.

To be on the bad side of an Emmons was
deadly. I was strongest in the fire element, and when push into a
rage my teeth would lengthen to poisonous fangs. We were known to
be especially protective of our families.

Isis stared in wonder at the fangs
protruding from my open mouth. Her mouth was wide at seeing them
for the first time. Ordinarily, I controlled my temper, but lately
I found my emotions chaotic.

“You will leave her alone.” My speech was
slurred. Isis nodded, and I released her arm. Her arm was bruised
in the shape of my fingers. I should have felt guilty, but seeing
Savannah walk out the doors and I knew I couldn’t regret my
actions.

Savannah

The first half of the school day passed
quickly. I hardly noticed as the hands of the clock danced past
noon. The lunch bell sounded and my stomach growled in annoyance. I
stored my bag in my locker on my way to the cafeteria and took a
few moments to check my cell for messages. I had a text from Maye
and felt my stomach drop before I opened it.

Considering Maye’s bafflement at modern
technology, I knew she must have spent a good while figuring how to
send me a text, which was confirmed when I saw several more texts
with the exact same message. It took seeing my parents’ names flash
across the screen before I processed what she wrote me. Nausea
engulfed me, as I stuff my phone into my locker and rushed to
lunch.

Our basement level school cafeteria was
somewhat unique. It was divided into four sections, which were then
divided into cliques.

The first section was filled with the
stereotypical jocks and Cheerleader’s, but also had people who I
called the
shadows
. These were people who were notorious for
shadowing these groups and were tolerated, but not encouraged by
the actual group members.

The second section was filled to the brim
with the
norms
, which were people who were literally the
definition of average. Usually they refused to stick to a single
clique, dangling between several.

The third cafeteria was littered with the
smart crowd. These were not just typical geeks, but rather truly
intelligent individuals. The last cafeteria was the unlucky one.
Anyone in that section belonged in the invisible or obnoxious
category. They were either so mouse like that no one noticed them
or they belonged to the worse category filled with class clowns,
Goths, or Punks. While the great population shunned the people in
the last section, I found them to be the most worthy of
knowing.

I walked through sections all four sections
and paused when I reached the doors that led to the quad. My best
friends were unquestionably
section four
students, but
rather than be persecuted by high school stereotypes; they choose
to ignore their status. We compromised with high school mentality
by claiming a picnic bench outside during the warmer months and
populated the library during winter.

Our bench was a mint green metallic
monstrosity, but it was ours. During lunch, we were usually
surrounded by herds of people who claimed the benches nearby.
However, today I noticed that most of the benches were empty. I
figured this had something to do with the light mist that covered
the benches from the spring rain this morning.

Willow and Izzy were seated on opposite
sides of the bench. This was usually the case since I was the
thread that tied them together. Izzy was the obnoxious borderline
Goth type, while Willow was the invisible moral type. They belonged
at opposite sides of the spectrum, but when the three of us were
together they glided from their opposing sides to merge in the
middle.

Willow seemed distracted this morning, while
Izzy chatted uncontrollably. When I approached, a branch snapped
beneath my flats and caused them to turn. Willow looked up at me
and smiled. Most people couldn’t see Willows beauty because she
caved in on herself when around other people. However, when Willow
wasn’t afraid that people might be judging her, she had a natural
classic beauty.

Willow held her smile a bit too long and I
noticed the strain behind her hazel eyes. Her chestnut brown hair
was casually thrown into a messy bun at her nape with random
strands falling around her heart shaped face.

Willow never wore her hair up unless it was
arranged perfectly. She wasn’t the typical teen to concentrate on
what was fashionable, but instead kept to a durable look. I knew
something must be off about today; her hair was screaming it at me.
I made a silent promise to ask her later. Willow knew my silent
signals and quirked up the corner of her mouth. Willow had coupled
her messy look with a pair of loose fitting jeans and a shirt that
was at least a size too big on her.

“Hey, S.” Willow’s voice was quiet and soft.
She was the embodiment of nature; quite, serene, and its beauty was
often overlooked. If there had been any noise other than a light
breeze on the nearby trees, I would not have heard her.

I sat down next to Willow and directly
across from Izzy. Willow grabbed a lunch tray and pushed it towards
me. I glanced down at some Bosco sticks with marinara sauce and
garlic fries. Since Willow had a free period directly before lunch,
she could get to the lunch room before the absurdly long line took
over. Luckily, she knew exactly what to order for me on any given
day. She claimed we had a psychic appetite connection. I thought it
was more likely that it had to do with my picky appetite, the fact
that I only liked five things on the menu, and I hated eating the
same thing two days in a row.